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She’s here now, alive in a place that makes no fucking sense. Kind. Gentle. Familiar.

And I don’t trust her. Because I’ve trusted women who used sweetness as a weapon. And right now, Luna is the only one of them who doesn’t make me flinch. Her lashes twitch with dreams I’d kill to protect. I know she’s safe for now. Imadethis earth cradle her. Sealed the edges of the cave tight with root and rock.

But still.

Still.

The village knows we’re here now.

They saw the bonds, felt the magic between us. They saw what she is to us—not just another binder.The binder.And if they think there’s even a chance she can be removed—

Ifthey think someone else could take her place—

Would they try? Would they hurt her, just to test the magic? None of us know how it works. Not really. There are no rules anymore. No logic. Just desperation. And I don’t trust whatdesperation makes people do. They wouldn’t come for us. They’d come for her. To end her. To try and steal what’s ours. And I will fucking bury this entire realm before I let that happen.

I sit forward, elbows braced on my knees, eyes trained on the trees. The night air tastes like secrets and wet leaves. Every now and then, I think I see movement. Flickers of light. Eyes that blink and vanish.

Let them try.

Let them come.

I'll be the last thing they ever see.

The sound is wrong. Not loud. Barely more than a breath—the quiethissof something parting the air with too much purpose. A breeze couldn’t make that sound. Neither could the trees. It’s too clean. Too precise.

And Lucien moves.

He doesn’t startle. Doesn’t flinch. He just shifts from a dead sleep like he was already awake, body rolling over Luna’s with the kind of precision that doesn’t come from thinking—it comes from training. Instinct. One second he’s still, the next he’s draped over her, arms braced, back curving protectively as the arrow lands with a solid, sickening thunk.

Right where her head had been.

It buries deep in his shoulder, the shaft still trembling from the force.

I’m on my feet before the next breath leaves my lungs. Lucien doesn’t make a sound. Doesn’t swear. Doesn’t even look at the blood that’s already soaking through his shirt. He shifts just enough to pull Luna under him, curling her closer like he’s the fucking shield he’s always pretended not to be. Her eyes snap open, wild, confused—and thenfuriousas they lock on mine.

Because we both know what’s happening.

We wereright.

Another arrow whistles through the dark, striking the wall of stone behind us with a crack. Then another. And another. A rain of them, slicing the night open with the hiss of betrayal made airborne.

They’re not trying to kill us.

They’re trying to herd us.

Elias is swearing, loudly and creatively, while dragging Caspian toward cover, the pair of them half-dressed, half-lucid, and still faster than any human has a right to be.

Orin is already moving like he saw it coming. He doesn’t shout. Doesn’t draw steel. He walks toward the treeline like he’s been waiting for this exact moment to unfold, and something in the airshiftsaround him.

But I don't look away from Luna.

She’s on her knees now, hands braced in the dirt, her face a mask of fury and confusion and magic she hasn’t called on yet butwill. And I don’t let myself feel the fear rising in my throat, because if I let it live, it’llown me.

I step toward her, catching her chin with one hand. “Stay down,” I say, voice low, sharp.

Lucien’s blood drips onto her shoulder as he braces above her, still silent, still watching, and in that moment I know—he would’ve died gladly if it meant she lived another second.And that kind of loyalty, fromhim, cuts deeper than anything.

Arrows stop.